An "out-of-character" moment for Lincoln?

[RJNorton]

I have been thinking about this since Gene posted it, and I am still not sure what I think. It's possible if what Matheny said is true. I wish we had more than Matheny's word concerning the incident involving the wife beater. I am surprised that other accounts of this are apparently not in Herndon's Informants, etc. Unless there is a corroborating account I am somewhat suspicious of Matheny's description and think it may be embellished. Maybe someone knows of a second source.